Maximum-demand electric meter.



w. E. PORTER. I MAXIMUM DEMAND ELECTRIC METER.-

. APPLICATION FILED-P151349, 1910. 1, 7/,749.

Patehted Nov. 4, 1913.

I lnventox z Willard BPorter,

Witnesses: M%

t His flttorney.

HM, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR T GENERAL ELECTRIC epecificeticn of Letters Patent. I

i meanest/inn ELECTRIC mnnnn.

Be it hil'lGWll i, WiLLnso Porsinn, citizen oi the Uniteci States,- residing at nn, county of seen, State of Massachw set'ts, have inven'eoi'certein'new and useful improvement n hiasimum-Demen i Electric itlichens o f which. the following is a specification.

invention relates to maximum tiemand ic and has for its object an im such apparatus.

.2 6155 to cm: "5 ec-nccm:

l; 2, invention'inay he sppii ed any on orms of efiectiic meter continnoiisiy revolving the tveli .11; Wii remein fixed in 'any nnich it is moved and eclapted as to .oniy receive 1orwar i impulses TIGER en actuating sheft. These various elements o1": inventionare so con-elated that the cinch Work mechanism will cause ghe meter eiement to move the dial pointer in s forwsi'tl direction during frequentlyrecunring interveis, each of a definite and exact time iengtinlit-the end of these intenvais the shaft which actuates the pointer is returned tozere osition by means of a spring which is Wound un by the clock inecha-nisnn The intermittent. motion is ohthsongh the action of the tilfi'eren tial The principie-upon which this meter acts that s, sen-in speeci of the moving'meter Elemen Wii produce a forward iotstion of e certain amount for a given an M ' uantity of'enetgjy', the iai ther distance so to incent- T nnginensnieei by the a oiinl pointer eic onrespontiing to the meter iiuringthe time interval in Which the shaft moves. The novel features of my invention are pointed out in the claims attached to and made part of this specification.

For a further understanding of myinvention reference may he had to the accompanying 'cimwmg \vherepthe figure shows 1n perspective the essential features of my invention, the meter mechanism being omit-ted.

Referring to the figure, the rotatabie Inetel shaft 1 drives the usual gearing for the registering mechanism which I have not shown, and also by means of Worm 9 drives a shaft and gearing 10. Since the meter itseiii' forms no part of'my, invention I have not illustrated the same, and itis to be understood that my invention is adapted to be carried out with an t oe of motor incrrw' "L ien in'e gearing 1O ch lves a hollow shaft ll to one end of which is attached the gear member 12 of a' differential gearing.

Through shaft 11 runs shaft 13 to one end of which is fastened the dog 5. This dog moves pointer in the Well known manner. The pointer isarranged to remain in the position to which. it is moved. Loosely mounted on shaft 13 is the second member 1 of the differential gear, and in operative [reietion with these two members is the planetnry gear member 15 operatively fastened to shaft 13. and counterweighted by a weight 16. r

A 'ciock- Work mechanism 17 is partly shown, which mechanism may he wound up in the usual manner by a, hey' piaceci over shaft l8 This clock Work mechanism has one of its Wheels meshing with the gear 20 and with the gear 19 which is loosely mounted on a shaf.

nism.- Gear 19 'Winiis" up spring connection 21, one end of the spring being firmly attached to the. shaft upon which gear 19 r0- tates and to this shaft is also attached gear ffillfie'i 22. In operative relation with gear Wheel 22 is a pinion 23 mounted on a shaft to which is also firmiy attached adisk 2 's having a pin 25, which; pin. is helci against moven'zenthy levee 26. A gene train 27 connects weer Qfi' with eesi' EZSfastened to 3 .2:

Patented Nova i; @9136 iilfiti Kehi'uai'y 18, E310. Serial'Noi 5%,759.

It will be obvious that gears 19 anci 20 may be oinven 111 any desired manner from the clockwork mechagear 12 continuously when energy is being consumed. The clock work mechanism'performs two functions. It causes the actuating shaft to rotate at recurring intervals of a definite and equal time length, and after such rotation it causes the actuating shaft to be returned to an initial or zero position. The forward rotation of the shaft is accomplished through the action of pin 25 and lever 26 which lock wheel 22, gear train 27 and thus gear member 14. When gear member 14 is locked or kept from movement, planetary gear 15 is carried forward by the action of gear member 12, and, as the planetary gear is fastened to the shaft 13, this shaft is rotated in the direction shown by the arrow, thus moving pointer 4. While this action is going on, the clock work' mechanism by means of wheel 19 winds up spring connection 21. When the lever 26 is moved out of engagement with pin 25, that is, when the differ ential gear member is unlocked, spring 21 will cause gear train 27 and gear member 14 to move in such a direction that planetary gear 15 will reverse its direction of rotation and will return dog 5 to its zero position.

As the energy stored up in the spring 21 is the same for each time interval, it is evident that the gear 28 will rotate through equal angles each time the pin 25 is released. This angle must obviously be large enough to return the dog 5 to its initial or zero position, which latter may be determined in any well known manner, as for" example, byan extension 5 on the dog cooperating with a fixed stop 30. As the gear 28 rotates at the end of each period through equal angles it is. evident that the dog 0 must be arranged to slip relatively to the gear 28, in order that the latter may com plete its rotation when the former has reached its Zero or initial position. The slip may occur at any convenient point in the gearing, operatively connecting these members, for example, between the shaft 13 and the sleeve on which the planetary gear 15 is mounted, the operative connection between these points being such that it will transmit the torque necessa to drive the dog forward-but will slip w en on the return movement the dog 5 reaches its zero osition. a 7

It will be obvious that as shaft 13 is rotated for equal time lengths the amount of its forward rotation, and hence the position to which it moves the pointer, will depend to which the meter is connected.

on the speed at which the shaft is rotated. This speed is proportional to the energ measured by the meter. It will also be ob vious that for a correct reading of the pointer, the shaft should be returned after each movement to an initial or zero position which should be a fixed position. If this be the case, during the recurrent time intervals of movement of the shaft, the pointer will be moved forward an amount representing the greatestmovement of the shaft or the maximum energy in the circuit As the pointer is so arranged that it will remain in the position to which it'is moved, it will thus register the maximum demand or the maximum quantity of energy consumed by the circuit.

\Vhile I have illustrated my invention as of a second shaft, a differential gearingcomprising two gear members loosely mounted on the second shaft and a planetary member adapted to rotate said second shaft, and means for causing said gearing to rotate the second shaft and for reversing the direction of rotation of said second shaft.

2. The combination with a rotatable shaft of a second shaft, a differential gearing comprising two gear members loosely mounted on the second shaft and a planetary member adapted to. rotate sald second shaft, and

1 means for causing said gearing to rotate the second shaft at recurring intervals of a definite time length and for returning said second shaft to its initial position at the end of each interval.

3. In a motor meter, a difierential gearing comprising two gear members and a plan.

etary member, means for driving one of the gear members from the meter, a shaft adapt ed to be rotated by the planetary member in one direction, and means for driving the other of said gear members for reversing the direction of rotation of the shaft.

4. In a motor meter, a differential gearing comprising two gear members and a planetary member, means for driving one of the gear members from the meter, a shaft adapted to be rotated in one direction by the planetary member,-and means for periodically rotating the shaft in a reverse direction.

5. In a motor meter, a difierential gearmg comprising two gear members and a planetary member, meansnfor driving one of the gear members from the meter, means for periodically locking the second ear member for equal intervals of time, a shaft adapted to be rotated by the planetary memher in one direction, and means for rotating the shaft in the other direction when the second gear member is unlocked.

6. In a motor meter, a differential gearing comprising two gear members and a planetary member, means for driving one of the gear members from the meter, means for locking the second gear memberduring equal intervals of time, a shaft adapted to be rotated by said planetary member, a spring adapted to reverse the direction of rotation of said shaft at the end of each equal interval of time, and a motor forenergizing said spring during each of the intervals of time.

7 In a meter, in combination a difi'erem tial gear comprising two gear members and a planetary member in operative relation therewith, a shaft adapted to be rotated by the planetary member, means for causing the meter mechanism to drive o'ne'of the gear members, means for intermittently locking the other gear member'and means for rotating said shaft when the locking means is not in operation.

8. In a meter, in combmation a ditlerential gear comprising two gear members and a planetary member in operative relation therewith, a shaft having a zero position and adapted. to berotated by the planetary member, means for causing the meter mechanism to drive one of the gear members, a clock work mechanism intermittently locking the other gear member causing the shaft to rotate and means for returning the shaft to its zero position when the locking means is inoperative.

9. In a meter, in combination a difierential gear comprising two gear members and a planetary member in operative relation therewith, a shaft having a zero position and adapted to be rotated by the planetary member, means for causing the meter mechanism to drive one of the gear members, a clock work mechanism intermittently looking the other gear member at recurring interval's of a definite and equal time length,

causing a forward rotation of the shaft during said intervals, and means for reversing members, a clock work mechanism intermittently locking the other gear member at recurring intervals of a definite and equal time length causing a forward rotation of the shaft during said intervals, a spring adapted to reverse the direction of rotation of the shaft and return it to its zero position, means for causing the clock work mechanism to wind said s ring, and a pointer adapted to be moved in' one direction by the forward rotation of the shaft and to remain in the position to which it is moved.

11. In a meter, in combination a shaft having a dog, a difierential gear comprising two 'gea'r members loosely mounted on said shaft and a planetary member in operative relation with the gear members and the shaft, means for causing the meter mechanism to drive one of the gear members, a clock work mechanism, a gear train in opera-tive relation with the second gear member of the diilerential gear, means operated by said mechanism for intermittently locking the gear train at recurring intervals of a definite and equal time length causing a forward rotatibn of the sha-it, a spring adapted to reverse the direction of rotation of the shaft and return it to its zero position, means for causing the mechanism to wind the spring, and a pointer adapted to be moved in one direction by the rotation of the shaft, and to remain in the positionto which it is moved.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this sixteenth day of February, 1910.

, WILLARD E. PORTER.

Witnesses JoHN A; MCMANUS, Jr, CHARLES A. BARNARD.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

' washin thi, .1). c. 

